Link



March 20, 1928. 1,663,043

D. J. EDWARDS LINK Filed Feb. 12', 1923 Patented Mar. 20, 1928. i

UNITED STATES; men"mm- Don J. EDWARDS, or PORTLAND, MAINE, .ASSIGNOR 'ro THE THOMAS LAUGHLIN com PANZ, or ron'rnenn MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

LINK.

Application filed February m, 1923. Serial No. 618,662.

My invention relates to new and useful Fig. is an end view of the link closed, 55

improvements in links and more particuand V Y J I larly to what may be termed a snap link, v l5ig- 6 is a section on the-line 66 of the principal object of the invention resid- Fig. 5. Y t

5 ing in the construction of the link in such In the drawings A indicatesthe body of a manner that one end is normally open but the link castwith the normally open or 60 may b l d b pressure inwardly towards spaced terminal portions B and C as ill11s; the longitudinal axis, the ends of the arms trated more particularly in Fig 1 of the at the open end beingprovided with tongue drawings. This body portion A comprises portions or projections adapted to be interthe arms 1 and 2, in cross section, whichare locked to close the normally open end of the of oval shape as shown in- Fig. 3 and are 65, link, and the ends of the arms being beveled connected at oneend by the portion3 which; so that one end will ride over the other in is of greater diameter than the arms, the closing the link, the link having sufficient diameter of this connecting portion'3 being resiliency to allow one end ofthe link to illustrated in Fig. 2' of the'drawingsl At ride over the other and snap into position the opposite ends the arms 1 and 2 are bev 70 so that the tongues or projections will intereled as shown at 4: and 5 respectively,ashoullock and be held in such position. der 6, being formed intermediate the ends A further object consists in forming the oi the beye-l 4l.anda shoulder 7 being formed ends of the link with broadened or increas intermed ate the ends Qf-the beveli 5 The ing diameter portions and the arms of oval" beveled portions of the arms are broadened -75 shape in cross section, the broadened or dias more clearly shown inFigs. 1 and- {Lot ameter increased portions at the ends adding I he drawings'so that when the terminals are" strength at these points and allowing the brought together by pressure, to close the 2 arms to bend in closingatsuch points as not luck, the diameter of the end of the link,

to cause breaking and the oval shape of the closed by the terminals, will be greater than no arms allowing the link to be closed with less the diameter of the arms 1 and 2- and slightly effort'than would be required if) the arms greater than the oppositeor normally closed were of the greater diameter throughout end of the link. The'purpose of inand increases the natural spring of the link creaslng diameter will be" presently dewhich comes-into play when the linkis being Scr1bed. The inner faces of the shoulders 6 closed, as the greater diameter of the oval and are slightly inclined as shown. at, 8 is opposed to the bending torque caused by in Fig. 5 'of the-drawings so that in closing, thegbeveled or inclined ends riding up upon he ternnnalsthe shoulders Willproperly in- 35 each other. terlock and be held in proper position.

With the above and other objects in View, A. link constructed as above described has 5 which will appear as the description promany advantages over the old form of open coeds, my invention consists in the novel delink which I will endeavor to point out. 'In tails of construction and arrangement of the first place my link is so formed that the 40 parts described in the following specification terminal ends are normally spaced a slight and illustrated in theaccompanying drawdistance apart and are adapted to be closed 95 ings, and while I have illustrated and demerely by an inwardpressure towards the scribed the preferred embodiments of the longitudinal axis of the link. The terminal invention as they now appear to me it will portions are, as described, beveled on their be understood that such changes may be inner faces and each provided with a shoulmade as will fall within the scope of the apder or projection, one terminal riding over w pended claims. the other when closing and, the shoulders In the drawings: adapted to interlock to hold the terminals in Fig. 1 is a plan of the linkopen. their closed position. The body of the link Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2'2 of is formed of sufiicient resiliency so that one Fi 1. terminal may pass over the other and when r 'Fig. 3 is a section on the 1ine 3-3 of in proper position the terminals will spring Fi 1. y inwardly, or towards one another, so that Fig. 4: is a plan of the link closed. the shoulders will interlock. By having the oval shape as shown more particularly in Fig. 3 less effort is required in closing the link than would be required if the arms were round and at the same time the natural spring of the link is increased when the link is being closed. The long diameter of the oval is opposed to the'bending torque caused by the beveled or inclined ends riding up upon each other. By forming the connecting portion 3 of greater diameterthan the arms 1 and 2 the bend, in closing, willtake place at'thepoints ashown in Fig. 1, and prevent bending at the center of the connecting portion 3 as would be the case if the connecting portion and the arms themselves were of the same diameter. At the same time the bending taking place at the points indicated the possibility of crackingis overcome. The diameter of the terminal end of the link is increased as shown in Fig. 6 so that when the terminals are closed, and

the link is used with the standard size of chain link, its diameter is just small enough to fit into the inside of the regular chain link and this will make it impossible for the terminal ends of my link to spread open. By making the link of greater diameter at each end, than at the sides or arms, strength is added-at the ends and the life of the link, where the greatest wear takes place is considerably increased.

The terminal ends of my link are normal-1y spaced apart sufficient distance to receive therebetween links of a chain or other object, or slightly spaced eyes for connecting two objects, and when the members to be connected are in position, between the arms of my link, the arms may very easily be pressed inwardly towards the longitudinal axis or the linkso'that the beveled terminals will ride over one another until such a position is reached that the terminals will spring 1nwardly towards one another and allow the shoulders or projections to interlock. The

1. A link of the character described com-' prising a connecting end portion integral with opposite side portions having offset terminals formed to interlock when forced endwise towards each other into overlapping relation, the side portions having their greater diameter at right angles to the general plane of the body of the link and a substantially shorter diameter in said general plane, whereby to facilitate the forcing of the arms into overlapped relation and resist the bending of the arms out'of said plane.

2. A link of the character described comprising v a connecting end portion integral with opposite'side portions having offset terminals formedto interlock when ilorced endwise'towards each other into overlapping relation, the side portions having their greater diameter at right angles to the general plane of the body of the link and a substantially shorter diameter in said general plane, whereby to facilitate the forcing of the arms into overlapped relation and ing of the arms out of said'plane, the connecting portion of the linkbeing relatively stronger than'the side portions to prevent impairment of the connecting portion when forcing the arms together.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature. 1 i

DON J. EDWARDS.

resist the bend- V 

